Morgan Stanley Announce Significant Writedowns
by Stewart Douglas
Story link: Morgan Stanley Announce Significant Writedowns
Investment bank Morgan Stanley has today announced a $9.4 billion writedown in order to correct the value of some of its sub-prime exposure, in a move that far exceeded analyst expectations of a much smaller writedown over the period, on a day it also announced it had sold part of its equity to a Chinese-backed [...]
China consents to foreign banks issuing credit cards
by Richard Kilner
Story link: China consents to foreign banks issuing credit cards
Five foreign banks, (Citigroup, HSBC Corp., Standard Chartered Bank Ltd., Bank of East Asia Ltd. and Hang Seng Bank Ltd.), will become the first to be permitted to issue credit cards in China, assuming they pass the the country’s regulatory standards.
Overseas financial institutions are keen to participate in China’s credit card market. Previously they were [...]
Northern Rock guarantee widened
by Richard Kilner
Story link: Northern Rock guarantee widened
The Treasury’s wider financial commitments to stricken bank Northern Rock have been seen by many as just another step towards the bank becoming nationalised.
Now the government has guaranteed not just retail deposits, but the bank’s debts to other financial institutions, a change made at the behest of Northern Rock itself.
The government’s preferred option for Northern [...]
Bradford & Bingley interest in Northern Rock assets
by Gill Montia
Story link: Bradford & Bingley interest in Northern Rock assets
Bradford & Bingley (B&B), a leading provider of buy-to-let mortgages, is reported to have approached Northern Rock with a view to acquiring some of the troubled bank’s assets.
It is understood that B&B is not interest in buying the entire business but that it could become part of a rescue consortium.
Bradford & Bingley currently has concerns [...]
Interbank lending rates ease as £250 billion injected into markets
by Gill Montia
Story link: Interbank lending rates ease as £250 billion injected into markets
Interbank lending rates have eased in both the UK and the eurozone after the Bank of England and the European Central Bank (ECB) injected £250 billion into the money markets early this week.
The Bank of England auctioned £10 billion in three-month lending, which was fully taken up.
The highest bid for the money was at 6.6%, [...]
Pandit Appoints Morgan Stanley Man
by Stewart Douglas
Story link: Pandit Appoints Morgan Stanley Man
Banking giant Citigroup has today announced the appointment of a new high profile executive, in one of new CEO Vikram Pandit’s most notable moves thus far, replacing the outgoing chief administrative officer David Bushnell after three months in post, according to reports today.
The bank today announced that former Morgan Stanley man Don Callahan would be [...]
Goldman Sachs Announce Q4 Profits
by Stewart Douglas
Story link: Goldman Sachs Announce Q4 Profits
Leading investment bank Goldman Sachs has today announced an increase in profits over the last quarter of the year, with earnings overall growing by 2% off the back of strong investment banking divisions and growth in its financial consultancy services over the period.
Goldman have enjoyed a prosperous summer after selling their exposure to the sub-prime [...]
Treasury guarantees Northern Rock’s money market obligations
by Gill Montia
Story link: Treasury guarantees Northern Rock’s money market obligations
The news that the Government has agreed to guarantee Northern Rock’s unsecured obligations in the wholesale money markets is being interpreted by some analysts as evidence that nationalisation of the bank is a strong possibility.
The latest guarantee is in addition to the security provided by the Government for £15 billion of retail deposits, and when [...]
World Bank says Chinese economy smaller than previously estimated
by Richard Kilner
Story link: World Bank says Chinese economy smaller than previously estimated
The World Bank has said that the economy of China has been overestimated by a massive 40%, though it still remains, under the new figures, the second largest globally.
The World Bank used purchasing power parity (PPP), a method the bank believes to be more reliable, to come up with the updated statistics.
The World Bank worked [...]
Norwich Union Life given highest ever FSA fine
by Richard Kilner
Story link: Norwich Union Life given highest ever FSA fine
The FSA has fined Norwich Union Life close to £1.3m as punishment for the firm exposing millions of people to the possibility of fraud.
The fine is the largest the FSA has ever issued for fraud, however it would have been even greater (£1.8m) had the firm not settled at an early stage and thus earned [...]
Government plans Northern Rock break-up
by Gill Montia
Story link: Government plans Northern Rock break-up
While the bidding process for Northern Rock continues, press reports speak of secret plans being drawn up by the Treasury to divide it up between UK High Street banks, should there be a need for a hasty nationalisation of the mortgage bank.
The plans are apparently aimed at allowing the Government to minimise its role in [...]
Third-quarter borrowing increases by £11.7bn as savings diminish
by Gill Montia
Story link: Third-quarter borrowing increases by £11.7bn as savings diminish
Unbiased.co.uk, the website that promotes independent financial advice, has reported that UK consumers increased borrowings by over £11.7 billion during the third-quarter of 2007.
In addition, high interest rates and the credit squeeze resulted in savers accessing their accounts to pay for expenditure from the summer months, such as holidays.
Savings balances dropped by over £11 billion [...]
Merrill Re-Appoint Ex Fixed Incomes Chief To Stabilise Portfolio
by Stewart Douglas
Story link: Merrill Re-Appoint Ex Fixed Incomes Chief To Stabilise Portfolio
Investment bank Merrill Lynch has today reappointed their former fixed incomes executive in a move designed to help restructure the firm’s sub-prime debt exposure with a view to resolving outstanding issues and preventing the need for further embarrassing writedowns.
Former high profile executive Jeffrey Kronthal, who parted company with Merrill Lynch just last year, has been [...]
UBS Dismiss Writedown Rumours
by Stewart Douglas
Story link: UBS Dismiss Writedown Rumours
Swiss investment bank UBS has today ferociously dismissed rumours in local press that it was preparing to take a further writedown of 4.5 billion Swiss Francs in early 2008, suggesting that to do so would breach accounting policies and there were at present no indications of any further problems for their investment holdings.
However they also [...]
RBS provides “Emergency Cash” at ATMs
by Gill Montia
Story link: RBS provides “Emergency Cash” at ATMs
Royal Bank of Scotland is introducing a new service to allow customers who have lost their debit cards to access emergency funds.
The scheme will provide a cardless method of withdrawing money from any Royal Bank of Scotland group ATM (The group comprises: Royal Bank of Scotland, NatWest, Ulster Bank and Tesco Personal Finance).
Customers who have [...]
Calls for banks to disclose subprime losses
by Richard Kilner
Story link: Calls for banks to disclose subprime losses
Analysts are calling on banks to fully disclose all their losses from the US housing slump to prevent unallayed anxiety from exacerbating the credit crunch. The calls come in the wake of the first co-ordinated action between a number of major central banks since the terrorist attacks in 2001.
Michael Schubert, an economist with Commerzbank, [...]
Chancellor may wrest powers from BoE
by Gill Montia
Story link: Chancellor may wrest powers from BoE
The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, is reported to be considering plans to remove certain powers from the Bank of England in the event of another crisis in the banking system.
Such a move could allow the Chancellor to take control of all decisions during an emergency similar to the Northern Rock crisis, when there [...]
Bids to rescue Northern Rock have new difficulties
by Richard Kilner
Story link: Bids to rescue Northern Rock have new difficulties
Yesterday the bleak prospects of struggling bank Northern Rock suffered another setback as new obstacles arose for those bidding for the bank.
Should neither of the two bidders (Virgin and Olivant) be acceptable to the bank’s board, the Treasury and the Bank of England then Northern Rock could become nationalised, after suffering the ignominy of being [...]
Barclaycard raises alarm with upgrade to OnePulse
by Gill Montia
Story link: Barclaycard raises alarm with upgrade to OnePulse
Barclaycard has plans to replace some of its customers’ credit cards with new “three-in-one” cards that will include a cashless payment facility.
The credit card provider has already begun writing to its Platinum cardholders living within London and the south-east, to advise them they are being “upgraded” to a OnePulse card.
OnePulse combines a credit card with [...]
CAB protest at banks coercing debtors into costly loans
by Gill Montia
Story link: CAB protest at banks coercing debtors into costly loans
The Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) is continuing its campaign on behalf of British debtors with an attack on High Street banks, which it claims are putting pressure on customers who have financial problems to take out expensive loans.
According to the CAB, some banks are using aggressive and persistent tactics to persuade customers to take out [...]
